AP Standards
1. Pre-Columbian Societies
• Early inhabitants of the Americas
• American Indian empires in
Mesoamerica, the Southwest, and the
Mississippi Valley
• American Indian cultures of North
America and the time of European
contact
I. Origins of the American Indian
II. Pre-Columbian Indian civilizations: Regional Cultures
Indian Cultures
A. Basic stages of development in Middle America
B. South American cultures: Incas develop in Andes
Eastern woodland people burned forests to encourage the
growth of berries and fruits (exhibits “harvesting”
Adena-Hopewell people of the Ohio Valley created earthworks
Mortuary cult & transition in 600AD to a Mississippian culture due
to trade & aid of bow and arrow, maize, and flint tools (hoes)
Mississippian culture: climaxed around time of European
discovery & influenced many neighboring tribes
(i.e. Adena-Hopewell)
Cahokia:
- Farming community 30,000
people (modern day Illinois)
- state-level society exploiting the
rich agricultural resources of the
Great Bottom (Missouri and
Mississippi River confluence).
- city's commercial and cultural
impact was felt throughout the
Eastern United States.
-100 feet tall and covers 14 acres.
- rulers governed from a temple atop this mound.
- population in 1050-1150 A.D. was likely to have been 10-20,000, much
larger than Paris at the time. (It declined in 1200-1400 A.D.)
Pueblo- Hohokam-Anasazi cultures of the Southwest
-Looser class structure
compared to
Mississippians
-Developed irrigation to
combat southwestern
climate
-Created pueblos, which
were later abandoned due
to sever drought and
fierce migrants moving
into territory from the
north
The Anasazi:
Ancient Cliff
Dwellers of
the Southwest
Increasing social complexity
-Kinship / clans lead
by chiefs of a high
ranking family &
advised by a council
of elders
-Council’s function
was to supervise
the economy (trade)
& relations with
other tribes
-Nowhere in North America did Indian
cultures develop a concept of the private
ownership of land.
-Labor was divided by
gender (at 1st -- men =
hunters, women =
gatherers … later
farming added to both)
-Hunting Tradition &
Agrarian Tradition
-Politics of warfare &
violence expand with
bow & arrow tech.
and the use of
scalping
AP Standards
2. Transatlantic Encounters and Colonial
Beginnings, 1492-1690
• First European contacts with American
Indians
• Spain’s empire in North America
• French colonization of Canada
II. Voyages of Columbus
a. Oct 12th 1492 – San Salvador, Bahamas
In fourteen hundred ninety-two
Columbus sailed the ocean blue.
He had three ships and left from Spain;
He sailed through sunshine, wind and rain.
He sailed by night; he sailed by day;
He used the stars to find his way.
A compass also helped him know
How to find the way to go.
Ninety sailors were on board;
Some men worked while others snored.
Then the workers went to sleep;
And others watched the ocean deep.
Day after day they looked for land;
They dreamed of trees and rocks and sand.
October 12 their dream came true,
You never saw a happier crew!
"Indians! Indians!" Columbus cried;
His heart was filled with joyful pride.
But "India" the land was not;
It was the Bahamas, and it was hot.
The Arakawa natives were very nice;
They gave the sailors food and spice.
Columbus sailed on to find some gold
To bring back home, as he'd been told.
He made the trip again and again,
Trading gold to bring to Spain.
The first American? No, not quite.
But Columbus was brave, and he was
bright.
WHITE EUROPEANS
clash
•Used the land for economic needs
•Clearing the land, destroying hunting areas and fencing it off into
private property
•Divided the land and selling it for monetary value.
NATIVE AMERICANS
•Relationship with environment as part of their religion
•Need to hunt for survival
•Ownership meant access to the things the land produced, not
ownership of the land itself.
Direct Causes = 3 G’s
• Political: Become a world power through gaining
wealth and land. (GLORY)
• Economic: Search for new trade routes with direct
access to Asian/African luxury goods would enrich
individuals and their nations (GOLD)
• Religious: spread Christianity and weaken Middle
Eastern Muslims. (GOD)
The 3 motives reinforce each other
III. Biological Exchange
Animals:
- bison, turkeys,
guinea pigs, llamas
& alpacas
Plants:
- maize, potatoes,
beans, peanuts,
tobacco, squash,
peppers, tomatoes,
pumpkins, cacao
Animals:
-horses, cattle, pigs,
sheep & goats
Plants:
-- rice, wheat, barley,
oats, wine grapes,
melons, coffee, olives,
bananas
-- diseases:
-Small pox, plague,
malaria, yellow fever,
cholera
IV. Spanish conquest of the New World
a. Indian weaknesses (disease, disunity,
transportation)
Explorers Sailing For France
• Cartier - France - Reached St. Lawrence River Claimed Eastern Canada for France – 1535
• Samuel de Champlain - France - “Father of New
France” - Established Quebec (the 1st permanent
French colony in N. America) - Established
settlements and explored Maine, Montreal & Nova
Scotia - 1608
The Beaver Fur Hat
hatters
From about 1550 until 1850, felt hats were fashionable in much
of Europe and the felt hat industry became the driving force
behind the fur trade. By the late 1500's, the beaver was
extinct in western Europe and was close to extinction in
Scandinavia and Russia. The North American fur trade
became a new source and kept the fashion going for another
200 years.
Royal Navy Tri-corner hat
New World Culture Zones